Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  Chapter Fifteen

  Azure pressed her hand to the place on her chest where the ruby had sat before it was destroyed. She’d awoken hours after passing out to find it hadn’t all just been a horrible nightmare. The vampires had attacked Virgo. They’d turned many of her people. Cordelia and Hamilton had destroyed her protection.

  “It’s okay to feel upset about losing the amulet,” Ever said at Azure’s back.

  Her shoulders drooped slightly as she nodded. “It feels silly, though. You all have been vulnerable this whole time. Now I’m just like you and Monet and everyone else in Virgo and New Egypt. I shouldn’t pity myself, but still, I do.”

  Ever’s hands slid around her waist from behind, pulling her back tight to his chest. He pressed his chin into her shoulder, looking at her sideways. “Even now, you’re not like the rest of us. There’s a reason you were given that amulet. We’ll figure it out.”

  “But that amulet was supposed to make it easier for me to defeat the vampires. It gave us an advantage, and I feel foolish for losing it,” Azure admitted, hating the disappointment that edged into her voice.

  “Maybe you were always supposed to lose it,” Ever said. “It protected you for as long as it did, which I’m grateful for. Imagine if you hadn’t had it when you were abducted.”

  “I’d be a founder vampire,” the queen stated.

  “Now you don’t have it, so the stakes are higher, but I’m certain we can still defeat the vampires,” Ever said.

  “How are you so certain?” she challenged.

  “What’s the alternative?” he asked. “Give up hope? Surrender?”

  “You could flee for the Dark Forest, or Terran, or Earth, where vampirism isn’t a threat,” Azure said with a laugh in her voice, goading him.

  “It isn’t a threat there yet.” Ever turned Azure around, looking at her intently. “And we both know that I’m not going anywhere. If the threat is so encompassing that all hope is lost, I’m still not fleeing. Even if you are turned, expect me to be right by your side.”

  “Because you’re insane and have zero sense of self-preservation?” she pretended to ask.

  “Because I’d rather risk losing my magic than lose you,” Ever said.

  Before Azure could respond, Laurel poked her head around the door to the council room. “I’m sorry,” she said, an embarrassed look on her face. “I realize I’m interrupting something, but I have to, it’s important.”

  Azure blushed, giving her full attention to the werecat. “You’re here! The wereanimals made the journey safely?”

  Laurel stepped around the door, nodding. “Yes, the first group of wereanimals made it to Virgo intact. They are setting up tents on the eastern hills now, although many residents have offered them lodging in their homes.”

  Azure’s throat tightened. They had just been attacked, and yet her people were already willing to open their homes to strangers.

  “The people of Virgo constantly surprise me with their thoughtfulness and generosity.”

  Laurel studiously appraised her. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?” Queen Azure asked.

  Laurel waved her off, dismissing her. “Never mind. Monet also wanted me to pass along that the quarantine units have been set up, and…”

  “And what?” she pressed.

  Her friend’s tense gaze dropped to the floor. “And the first set of victims are starting to turn.”

  “Oh,” Azure hiccupped on the word.

  While pacing back and forth in the comfort of the House of Enchanted, it had been easy for her to forget that the vampire virus had infected her people. Azure had been focused on finding a cure, and had left Monet to handle protecting the injured. A dozen witches and wizards had been bitten by founders, turning them into followers. Soon they’d thirst for blood and be a threat to their family and friends.

  “I’d like to see the quarantine units,” Azure stated, straightening.

  “You know what your gran would say,” Ever said.

  “I’m not going to enter the units,” she argued. “I only want to see them.”

  Ever offered an encouraging smile. “I’m only voicing the risk.”

  “Which is why you have more sense than I gave you credit for,” a familiar voice called from the scrying bowl on the side table.

  The three spun to the thick, stone bowl to find Gran’s face swimming on its surface.

  “Gran!” Azure exclaimed, running over to the table. “Are you alright?”

  The wide smile on the old witch’s face was answer enough, but still she said, “I’m fine. Though a little tired. Do you know that I could hear Gillian snoring in the other room?”

  The queen laughed, which felt good. It had been too long. “Yes, I’ve traveled with Gillian. He says it’s ‘a Gnome thing’.”

  “It’s an annoying thing,” the older woman said, wiping her eyes. “But our short friend has redeemed himself by decoding the last page from the Book of the Dead.”

  “You were able to find it? That’s great,” Ever said at Azure’s side.

  “Of course I found it,” Gran said, sounding insulted.

  “What does it say?” Azure asked, her heart thumping hard in her chest.

  “Right now, Gillian is still checking his interpretation, but by the time you get here, we should know more,” Gran reported.

  “Get there?” Azure asked.

  “Yes, dear. The vampires started here, so they must be conquered in New Egypt. We know that much.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, and then hesitated. Gran looked tired, but high-spirited, which was a good sign, but she tensed at the idea of sharing with the Queen Mother the tragedy that had befallen Virgo.

  Gran tipped her chin to the side, giving Azure a skeptical expression. “What is it, dear? Has something happened?”

  “It’s…It’s nothing,” she lied. She knew it was wrong to withhold the information, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause Gran stress, especially when she was so far away and couldn’t help.

  “‘Nothing’ as in something, but you don’t want to tell me for fear of making an old woman worry? Is that it?” Gran asked with an amused tone.

  “It’s Virgo,” Azure admitted.

  “Is Emeri alright?” her grandmother asked, worry springing to her eyes.

  She nodded. “Yes, mother is fine.”

  “And Monet is okay, otherwise you’d look worse,” Gran guessed.

  The queen smoothed down her blue hair, suddenly self-conscious. “What are you talking about? I look fine.”

  “What have I told you about wearing those tops?” Gran asked.

  Azure pulled at her white T-shirt. “That you love them and you want us to wear matching shirts with funky phrases?”

  Gran shook her head. “You’re right not to tell me about what is going on there. I can’t do a damn thing about it except for worry. I need my head about me, since I’m managing a gnome, a wizard and a strange, tattooed coven.”

  “Except none of them know they are being managed,” Ever said, his tone light.

  Gran scoffed at the Light Elf. “Of course not. The manipulation doesn’t work, otherwise.” She directed her gaze back to Azure. “Whatever has happened in Virgo, we will deal with. First, I need you two to get to New Egypt. And bring Monet, because I’m thinking he won’t be completely useless, but don’t you dare tell him I said that.”

  Azure nodded, knowing Gran was right. She had to have hope that they would find a way to save those who had been bitten.

  “Is there anything specific you can tell us about what the Book of the Dead says about the cure and the weapon?” Ever asked.

  Gran shook her head of lavender hair. “There is so much, and Gillian is still working out the details. We know the cure involves some complex potion. Its main ingredient appears to be bats from Earth; I have no idea how we’ll get ahold of those. And the weapon—” Gran’s eyes widened, directed at Azure’s collarbone. “Azure, where is the r
uby that Mage Lenore gave you?” she asked, her face suddenly slack with worry.

  “What?” Her hand flew to her unadorned chest. “Oh, I’m having it cleaned. I’ve got to go, Gran. See you soon.”

  She swiped her wand over the scrying bowl, severing the connection.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Finnegan gripped his long, turquoise beard, his eyes reeking of pain. His hand shook as he lifted a canteen to his mouth.

  Water spewed from his lips a moment later, spraying across his ‘cell’. There were no bars, since the Virgoan herbologist wasn’t a prisoner.

  He clapped his hand to the bite marks on his neck, grief filling his eyes.

  Monet watched from the other side of the clear boundary.

  The invisible barrier was similar to the one that Azure had set up when she closed the borders of Virgo to the vampires. Cloth separated the different quarantine units, but the fourth wall was composed of only the boundary spell, for viewing purposes.

  Navi and Luna crouched on the dirt floor outside of Finnegan’s cell. The two fairies held onto each other as they cried, mourning their bitten friend. Their wings drooped down their backs, and their faces were swollen and slick with tears.

  Watching the change had been torturous for Monet, and filled him with a burning urge to find the cure. He hadn’t even liked Finnegan—no one really did, except for Gran, probably because they were both old as dirt. However, Finnegan was a good wizard and a faithful servant to Virgo, farming the rare herbs that went into their valuable potions. Without him, things would falter. They’d already lost his twin brother, Charmsgood, another cornerstone of the kingdom.

  Monet scanned the other cells that lined the large tent. A vengeance he’d never known erupted in his gut. These were his people, and they’d been mercilessly attacked. Soon they’d lose their magic completely and turn into savage beasts controlled by hunger.

  Stopping in front of the cell at the end of the row, he blinked at the witch sitting in the corner. Her long, silver robes pooled around her as tears slipped over her cheeks. Trixie Flourboy knew Monet for who he truly was: a drunk. She’d served him his first beer before he was even old enough to drink in her pub. The old witch might have cut him off a time or two, but she never judged. To watch her now, battling the virus robbing her of magic, was more than painstaking.

  A guttural scream ripped from Trixie’s mouth, but no one seemed to notice besides Monet. Everyone else in the quarantine tent was experiencing the same degeneration.

  Trixie’s hand shot to her ear, where she wore her soul stone—a grape-purple amethyst— as a single earring. Violently, like it was on fire, she yanked the earring out and threw it across the space. It clattered to a halt against the invisible barrier.

  Trixie didn’t appear to see anything as she looked up to the ceiling, her gaze scorching with heat. Her chest rose and fell heavily as she pulled in her last breaths. A moment later, the witch, now a vampire, lowered her chin and stared directly at Monet.

  A scar marked the side of her face, running from her cheekbone to her chin. It was her soul mark, the stain all vampires wore after turning.

  “My soul…” Trixie said hoarsely. “I think it’s gone.”

  Monet found he’d lost his voice and cleared his throat. “You can get it back. I’ll see to it.”

  Knowing it was foolish and not caring, Monet waved his wand in front of the barrier to Trixie’s cell. The invisible wall disappeared. Monet bent over and picked up the earring, holding it up in front of him. “And I’ll hold onto this, keep it safe for you until you can wear it again.”

  The pained smile that crossed Trixie’s face was immediately replaced by a monstrous expression. Monet had only seen that wicked look in the eyes of thirsty vampires.

  He tried to cover his fear as he pulled the barrier back up, locking her safely away. Then he turned for the other cells, where the other Virgoans were all turning into follower vampires, losing their souls and their dignity.

  “I can’t allow you to enter,” Finswick said from the entrance to the quarantine tent.

  Azure shook her head at the tiny feline trying to appear like a tough bouncer. “Finny, I need to see Monet.”

  “Then I’ll go and fetch him,” Finswick said, twirling about, his tail high in the air.

  “I also need to see my people,” she urged. “I need to tell them that they are going to be all right.”

  “They may not be,” Finswick said coldly.

  Azure sighed, diverting her eyes to a group of wereanimals passing by on their way to the center of Virgo. The quarantine unit had been set up on the outskirts, next to the Dark Forest, but it was an area that attracted many of the wereanimals, since the woods brought them comfort.

  Virgo is filled with wereanimal refugees and has a quarantine unit for vampires. Things have gotten horribly strange and strangely horrible, Azure mused before returning her gaze to Finswick.

  “Look, you know I could stride right past you, but instead I’m asking you to please move,” she reasoned to the cat standing squarely in the middle of the entrance.

  “And you know that I could pee in your bed every night for the rest of our long lives,” Finswick stated, his nose high in the air.

  “The quarantine walls are strong,” she argued. “Monet constructed them himself.”

  Her familiar dropped his gaze, a guilt surfacing in his eyes. “It’s simply not smart for the Queen of Virgo and the next protector of the Howling Willow to enter this tent.”

  Because he was part of Azure, she could read him, and she knew he was hiding something.

  She dropped her chin and regarded him under hooded eyes. “Fin, what has Monet done?”

  He flicked his tail nervously, to the left and then to the right. “Nothiiiing,” he said, drawing out the word.

  “All done,” Monet called from inside the tent.

  Casually, Finswick strolled to the side of the entrance, curling up into a ball. “Never mind, you can go on in.”

  “You did what?!” Azure yelled, her hands fisted at her side. She stood in the front of the quarantine tent that Monet had fashioned into a work area by adding a cauldron and various herbs.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine,” her friend said, attaching a tag to an amethyst brooch that Azure recognized as belonging to Finnegan.

  “You took down the barriers and went into each of their cells?” She threw her arm in the direction of the quarantine area.

  “That was the best way to retrieve all of the soul stones,” Monet explained, carefully placing Finnegan’s in a box lined with velvet.

  “You could have been bitten,” she argued.

  “But I wasn’t,” Monet said simply.

  “Whatever, that’s a horrible argument for your foolishness.” Azure and Monet both grew quiet, their own thoughts absorbing their current attention.

  It was hard for Azure to fathom that Finnegan’s soul stone sat in a box instead of neatly fastened to his robes, where she’d seen it her entire life. Usually, a witch or wizard from Virgo kept their soul stone on them until the day they died. Then it went into a box, or was passed down, or buried with them. To know that the old wizard’s soul stone now rested in a box while he was in the other room, a soulless being, was horribly heartbreaking.

  This was why Azure had kept the details about Virgo from Gran. Finnegan was one of her oldest friends, and although she’d never fancied him the way he did her, the knowledge of his change still would have been a stress that she shouldn’t have to carry right now. Azure just had to save him and the others—then it wouldn’t matter that she didn’t tell Gran. It would be a heartbreak she’d never have to experience.

  “We have to help them,” Monet finally said, ending the silence. It was like he’d been in Azure’s thoughts.

  “Gran thinks that they have answers,” she shared, forgetting momentarily why she’d come to fetch Monet.

  “From the Book of the Dead?” he asked.

  Azure nodded. “We need to leav
e for New Egypt right away.”

  Monet pursed his lips, thinking. “Yeah, okay. I just need to find someone to watch the tent.”

  “I’m sure Laurel will do it,” Azure said, feeling heavier.

  She saw it in Monet, too, and wanted to hug him to make them both feel better. Instead, she ran her eyes over the sparkling soul stones that lined the table, the ones that Monet had collected from the newbie vampires.

  “Yeah, okay,” he said and then spun around, looking into the cauldron stationed on the table. “Oh, and I have to figure out a safe way to dispose of these.”

  “What’s in there?” Azure asked.

  “I collected all of the bats that we shot down. The ones from Earth,” Monet explained. “I was afraid they could be dangerous even dead, so I rounded them up and kept them so I could find a way to destroy them.”

  Luckily the bats had been killed by the dragons before they’d bitten anyone. But on the ground, not everyone had been so lucky. Founder vampires had broken through and attacked, creating the followers in the quarantine unit.

  A smile sprang to Azure’s mouth. “You’re a genius!”

  “Duh, but what does that have to do with anything?” Monet asked.

  “Don’t destroy the bats,” she instructed. “Bring them with us. You might have just secured the ingredient we need to cure our people.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Manx, in his black dog form, barked, bouncing around in front of Blisters. The unicorn lay on his side, a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream sitting between his hooves.

  “Would you stop that damn racket?” Monet yelled from the far side of the carriage.

  Manx halted, and gave him a dignified expression. “No, I kindly will not.” The pooka resumed barking, leaning back on his hind legs in a puppy pose.

  “I didn’t say ‘kindly’,” Monet retorted.

  “Just imagine if you had,” Manx countered in between barks.

  Blisters’ head lolled to the side, as if he were drunk on ice cream, and then he plunged his face back into the container.